


Breaking News

by Way_too_involved



Series: Langst Prompts [9]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Fire, Happy Birthday Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Minor Character Death, News Media, TV News
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 17:16:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15514677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Way_too_involved/pseuds/Way_too_involved
Summary: Lance and Keith are the headline news anchors at Altea News Station. It's also Lance's birthday.A breaking news story has everyone shook, especially Lance.----Lance almost breaks down on national tv after a breaking news story hits their screen.





	Breaking News

**Author's Note:**

> Happy belated birthday Lance-y Lance.

Lance walked into the studio having parked his car at his designated spot.

Being the main news anchor at Altea News Station had its perks, a private parking spot was one and a good pay was the other. He spent his first few pay checks on his family, renovating the house and paying his parents medical bills, then started spending his salary on himself. Getting a new beautiful red car, but still holding his old blue Honda close to his heart even if it’s in the hands of his younger sister at the moment, he still missed his first car. Seeing her face when he gave it to her soften the blow though.

Allura, their Director, was talking with Shiro, their Producer/Editor, on their latest stories and what was supposed to go first. They were a dynamic duo in managing a bunch of idiots, idiots that get the job done mind you, and coming out with the best possible result. Coran left the camera he was operating on and was raiding the food table probably set up by their genius audio engineer, and Lance’s best friend, Hunk.

Lance smiled fondly at the sight. He had worked his ass off to get where he was. From perfecting his foreign accent to working during his free time in high school to going to and paying for college to interning at smaller companies to get the experience to finally landing the role of a coffee boy at Altea Station and working his way up to one of the main new anchors and the face of the station.

The Cuban greeted everyone and made his way to the chairs where his partner was already sitting. Keith looked up from his phone and smiled at Lance, leaning forward and giving him a peck on the lips. Keith was his partner in every sense of the word.

“Hey there, birthday boy.” The Texan said. “You know you’re late, right?”

“Hey, babe. Yeah I know… I’m surprised Allura didn’t bite my head off.”

“She said she would let it slide considering it’s your birthday.”

“It should be my birthday every day then.”

Keith laughed as Lance walked to get two croissant and two black coffees for both of them as their breakfast. Even if he was late, it was still too early in normal terms. He went to bed early but he didn’t sleep until super late into the night. His mind ran wild with the different surprise possibilities from his friends and family. His brother, Marco, called him a week before to ask what he was doing the upcoming week, Lance didn’t grow up with Marco for this to go over his head so he knew they were planning something.

“That’s not how birthdays work, dumbass.” Keith called behind him.

“Whatever!”

He set the food down and took his papers gratefully from the intern who probably came here way too early to make a good impression. Lance needed to learn his name to give him a good review. He scanned the page in front of him, looking at all the headlines, he was already told about all these stories in detail on his way to the studio by Keith on a voice memo to save his ass. The ones that would hit the news urgently were the ones he usually dreaded.

The news was always disturbing. From police brutality to a case of a missing child or teen to a political case that was screwing with the citizens in more ways than one. He learned a long time ago to try and distance his emotions from what he was reading for the sake of his psyche, which of course didn’t mean that Lance didn’t think of every victim he had ever read about on air in front of millions.

“We’ll be ready in thirty minutes, you guys.” Allura came and told the two men.

Keith turned to Lance and smiled. It was a ritual Keith picked up from Lance to do before going on air. They would hold hands, thumbs massaging the back of the other’s hand and squeeze three times. It was simple with the meaning of _No matter how devastating what we were about to read will be, I will be there for you to pick you up after_. They had days when one of them would be way too emotional that day from lack of sleep or just pure stress and their emotions would be all over the place after going off air.

The news for the day went off, as depressing as it sounded, normally. The breaking news consisted of a store robbery that had one injured and a perpetrator on the run, the security camera caught his face and was now wanted by the police for robbery and assault.

The minute they went off the air Lance and Keith sat with their researchers to write and tweak the upcoming script based on newly found information. Lance’s shift usually went on for about 8 hours a day, 4 of those were spent on the air reading headlines and breaking news.

He looked at his phone for a breather and saw that his mother left him a voice memo, which wasn’t unusual considering it was much easier for her to say everything she needed fast.

_“Good morning, mijo. Hope you slept well and ate a good breakfast. Just wanted to remind you that we booked you for tonight, so you and Keith will get you butts here at seven. Wear something nice.”_

Lance smiled at the end of the memo and sent a quick reply to confirm to his mother and put his phone back in his pocket. It was his 28th birthday. His mother has been planning his birthdays ever since he was born and they have always been the best day of the year. After he introduced Keith to his family years ago, they would invite him over to every family event. He fit into his famillia surprisingly well and Lance loved it.

He tried waiting for a reply from his mother but when she didn’t, they went back on air shortly after.

After another round of reading the normal headlines, a breaking news story flashed on the teleprompter in front of them. Keith quickly picked up on it and started reading out loud what was displayed to their audience.

“News of a house fire has quickly reached the ears of the public, flooding every social media platform with the tragic story that happened just in the past hour.”

Lance quickly picked up after that.

“The cause of the fire was yet to be announced but suspected to be a short circuit from an appliance as the house first caught fire slowly, but erupt in flames soon after reaching the flammable materials hung around the house from the inside spreading rapidly to the outside.”

A sudden flood of words raced on the screen along with a few whispers and gasps from behind the camera. Lance didn’t pay them any attention and went on with the story. He read the words fast to keep up with what was scrolling in front of him, only half focusing on registering them.

“It appears that the cause of the fire wasn’t an appliance as previously mentioned, but an actual small flame has been the cause, setting fire to plastic hung and spread around the house. The fire department has confirmed the presence of chemicals in the air confirming the theory, along with the nature of the decoration inside the house and the fact the structure was of old wood. As for the victims, they have yet to be identified but he house is believed to belong to…”

Lance couldn’t finish the sentence. He paused and read it again and again until his eyes started to water.

“… McClain.”

“The fire dep-“Keith started. But Lance quickly cut him off.

“The fire department have identified a few of who they were able to get out of the house, two young children with the ages of five and seven were rescued and now under strict supervision from the paramedics on their way to the hospital.”

Lance cut Keith off because he knew that if he was the one doing the talking it would feel wrong to him. The words took a few seconds to be comprehended in him mind, a hand was on his forearm to try and ease he tremors but Lance payed it absolutely no mind.

He waited for any new information. Keith caught on to the fact that Lance needed this and stopped attempting to read.

“Another three victims were taken out of the house and are now in the clear. A young female seems to be in a critical condition having been the closest to the cause of the fire and have inhaled too much smoke. Two elderly citizens are now on the way to hospital, also in a critical condition but with no further information on them.”

His voice was starting to crack with every word. He could faintly see Allura and Shiro calling behind the camera onto Keith to take over. He wasn’t wearing his ear piece that day of all days and he would bet that they were currently yelling at him on it. He didn’t register the tears falling down his face until he felt wetness on the sleeve of his shirt.

His two nephews could be the only possible children at his house at this time. The young woman was Veronica without doubt and he was just told she was in a critical condition. His grandparents… he couldn’t even fathom anything happening to his abuelita or abuelito. They were this constant presence in his life that the mere thought of losing them was killing him on the inside.

But what about the rest?

Marco? Diego? His father? His mama?

_Dios._

There were so many people; he had a huge family. The fear of losing one of his family was eating him alive and the wait for new information was destructive.

Another flood of words.

“The police have identified the first casualty, Marco McClain, age 25 suffered from third degree burns and inhaled enough smoke to send him into cardiac arrest. According to witnesses he wouldn’t leave the house until every member of his family made it out of the house. These members include Rosa, Diego, Marcel, Sebastian and Nicolás McClain. Their conditions weren’t reported on yet but the police have assured the public they were taken to the hospital for full treatment. As for the house, the damage was extensive but was able to be saved by the local fire department.”

The minute the story ended, Lance’s vision became so blurry he couldn’t even see the table in front of him. His breathes were rapid and erratic, his shaking hands became full-body tremors. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe. He didn’t even know where he was and who was touching him; holding him against a broad chest.

His cries turned to wails within seconds. Lance thought of his family and everything he just read. The cause of the fire was candles, he was sure of it. The plastic decoration spread around the house and the chemicals. This was his fault. The thought was like a literal stab to the heart. If his family wasn’t planning his stupid dumb party, they wouldn’t be… Marco wouldn’t be…

**Marco.**

The thought of his younger brother sent him into another fit. He lost his brother. The guy who looked up to him, even if they were three years apart. The first person from his family to accept his bisexuality. The first person to find out about his and Keith’s relationship. His backbone through life and his best friend.

**He was gone.**

Lance’s hysterics didn’t calm for hours. Keith drove him to the hospital, on the way Lance’s red rimmed eyes stared out the window. His hand held on tightly by his lover, fulfilling his promise to always be there for him no matter what happened on air.

They drove on, plans of a birthday celebration long forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry of the sad ending... wouldn't be langst if it wasn't heartbreaking.
> 
> Kudos/Comments are much appreciated!


End file.
